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VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY 

LECTURE BY 

SWAMI ABHEDANANDA 

ON 

WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS? 



DELIVERED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE VEDANTA SOCIETY, 

AT CARNEGIE LYCEUM, NEW YORK, SUNDAY, 

DECEMBER 23d, igOO 



Published by the Vedanta Society 

NEW YORK 

J J > » ' O ' » B > ) t> 

3 9 ' ' I ' 

* 



Copyright, 1901 



Price 10 Cents 



The library of 

COtMGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

NOV. 26 1901 

Copyright entry 

CLASS* o 

copy a, 



'^XXc. No. 



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•• Even shouldst thou be the most sinful of all sinful (men), thou snart by 
the raft of knowledge of thy Atman or Self cross over the whole ocean of 
sin."— Bhagavad Gitd, ch. IV^ SQ. 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS? 

Who is the saviour of souls? is a question of mo- 
mentous importance in all the great religions of the 
world. Since the first dawning in human minds of the 
nature of the soul, this question has been asked and 
discussed by prophets and priests, kings and beggars, 
as well as by the inspired revealers of the sacred 
Scriptures. Various attempts have been made since 
the beginning of the religious history of the world to 
arrive at the right solution of this great problem. It 
is a question so deep in its nature that many advanced 
thinkers, philosophers and metaphysicians of all ages 
and climes have confessed their failure to arrive at any 
satisfactory solution. They have tried, but the conclu- 
sions they have reached have not been universally ac- 
ceptable; indeed, as this is a problem to be solved by 
each individual soul, it is highly improbable that any 
particular solution can give satisfaction to all classes 
of minds. The question resolves itself into three di- 
visions, each of equal importance: First. Who can 
really be called a saviour? Second. From what, and 



2 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

in what way, is a soul to be saved? Third. What is 
the true nature of the soul? These three points must 
be understood very clearly before we are able to dis- 
cuss the main question at issue; that is, Who is the 
saviour of souls? 

Three great spiritual leaders of the world are wor- 
shipped to-day as the Saviours of mankind by the peo- 
ples of different countries. One was of Semitic origin, 
and the other two appeared amongst the ancient 
Aryans who inhabited India. The one is known as 
Jesus the Christ; the other two are Buddha and 
Krishna. Each of these Saviours is recognized by his 
followers as the Incarnation of God on earth. The 
followers of these Saviours worship their masters as 
God Himself. The general belief in India is that, like 
Jesus the Christ, Buddha and Krishna also possessed 
the divitle powers of atoning for sins and of leading 
suffering humanity through different paths to the 
abode of eternal happiness and everlasting life. 

As the followers of Jesus the Christ hope to be 
saved from sin and eternal suffering through their sin- 
atoning Master, so the followers of Buddha and 
Krishna expect to reach the highest ideal of life, the 
ultimate goal of religion, through the paths laid down 
by their divine Masters. Although each one of these 
is worshipped as the Saviour of the world, still the 
idea of salvation, the true meaning of the word salva- 
tion, and the methods of attaining to it are understood 
differently by the followers of each of these three great 
Incarnations. We all know that the Christians mean 
by salvation, redemption from sin, escape from eternal 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS ? 3 

punishment and the attainment of everlasting felicity 
in heaven through faith in Jesus the Christ who died 
for sinners. 

According to the majority of Christian sects, each 
individual soul is born sinful, inheriting sin as his 
birthright. They accept the account of creation as 
given in Genesis and believe in the temptation and fall 
of man through the influence of Satan, the creator of 
evil. When the first man was created, he was made 
perfect and sinless after the image of the Creator; and 
then the evil spirit appeared on the scene and sowed 
the seed of evil in the fertile soil of Adam's soul. As 
that positive seed of evil grew into a tree and bore 
fruit, Adam's sin, the disobedience to the command of 
God, brought about his fall, punishment, suffering and 
death. The tree of evil did not die with the death of 
the first man, but it continued to grow larger and 
larger with innumerable branches until the whole 
world was covered with its shadow, sorrow, disease 
and death. The results of Adam's sin or disobedience 
to God's command have been reaped by his descend- 
ants from generation to generation for nearly six 
thousand years. At last, when the whole world was 
groaning under the burden of sin and suffering, the 
compassion of the Father in heaven was aroused and 
He showed how much he loved mankind. It is said 
God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten 
Son to save the souls of men. If that love had been 
shown a little earlier, how many thousands of souls 
might have been saved from sin and its consequent 
suffering! The ways of the merciful Father are mys- 



4 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

terious and beyond human comprehension. Jesus the 
Christ came and sacrificed himself, taking upon his 
shoulders the burden of the sins of all humanity. His 
blood washed away all the sins of the world; and since 
then the world has become free from sin, suffering and 
death for those who accept this sacrifice and redemp- 
tion. Of course these results are not to be enjoyed by 
unbelievers or heretics, but only by those who believe 
in Jesus the Christ as the Saviour of the world. Most 
Christian assert and believe that although Jesus the 
Christ died for all humanity, only those who come to 
him shall receive redemption from sin and go to 
heaven to enjoy celestial felicity. Those who, either 
through ignorance or perversity, fail to come under 
his banner, shall suffer for eternity. This is the ex- 
planation and solution of the great problem of the sal- 
vation of souls as understood and preached by the 
theologians and priests of Christendom and as pop- 
ularly accepted. 

The whole idea of Christ's being the Saviour of the 
world and of individual souls is most intimately con- 
nected with the theory that each individual soul is born 
in sin and is destined to suffer. Being born sinful, it 
has no power to save itself from the inevitable results 
of sin, which was committed, not by itself, but by the 
first man; consequently it needs the help of the inno- 
cent, holy Son of God, who came down from heaven to 
rescue sinful souls by taking upon himself the bur- 
den of their guilt and suffering its results in his own 
person. It is often said that before one accepts Jesus 
the Christ as the Saviour of souls he must believe that 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS? $ 

he was born in sin; that the very nature of his soul is 
sinful; that he cannot redeem himself; that he has no 
power to obtain salvation save through external help, 
and he must have absolute faith in the theory of vi- 
carious atonement: through that faith alone he will 
go to heaven and be free from all sin and suffering. 
No one is allowed to ask any question regarding any 
of these points; he must accept the doctrine or suffer 
the consequences. There is no other alternative. 

This solution may bring comfort to many souls; it 
may solve some problems of life and be entirely satis- 
factory to those who can accept it. We do not wish to 
disturb the well-settled opinions and beliefs of those 
who are content with this explanation and who are 
not ready to ask questions or seek farther. But there 
are many others who do not wish to accept anything 
upon hearsay or because it is written in some book: 
who do not care to believe anything on external au- 
thority. Such minds have found this solution unsat- 
isfactory, illogical and contradictory, Some of the 
best thinkers and philosophers of the world, as well 
as the advocates of modern science, have asked again 
and again " If God is infinite and all-pervading, where 
is there room for Satan?" "Who created Satan? 
Why did not God prevent the first man Adam from 
being tempted by that evil spirit? Why did He not 
protect him? Why should He punish an innocent 
man instead of the doer of evil?" How unkind and 
unjust must he be who punishes his own son for the 
faults of others ! All these questions and many others 
have arisen again and again in the minds of thinking 



VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

people, driving them to discouragement and unbelief. 
To them we say: Friends, you need not despair; 
there is great hope for you; there is another solution 
of the problem which may appeal to your reason 
and bring comfort to your souls. That solution, 
standing on the rock of reason, science and philos- 
ophy, answers all questions and doubts, and may clear 
away all your difficulties. 

First of all, let us examine carefully the origin of the 
idea of vicarious atonement. In ancient times, when 
primitive men were divided into classes, communities 
and tribes, each tribe had a tribal god; they believed 
that they could hold communion with these super- 
natural beings through prophets, priests, witches, or 
through oracles or inspirations. These tribal gods 
were numerous, as you will find, among the ancient 
Semitic tribes. The members of those communities 
believed that their tribal god was their ruler, protector, 
guide and friend; whenever the god was angry or dis- 
pleased, then evil overtook them; whenever any mis- 
fortune happened or any disease fell upon them, they 
thought that it was the result of their god's wrath, and 
they tried to appease him by going to the priests or to 
some necromantic deviners, or to certain prophets, 
and then performing such acts as these sages directed. 
The priests usually told them to offer the most useful 
and valuable things to their gods. In this way grad- 
ually grew up the idea of offering sacrifices and 
prayers to their god, and thus bringing him to their 
side and appeasing his wrath. The main object, how- 
ever, was to get rid of the miseries and sufferings of 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS ? 7 

life. Sometimes they offered things which could not 
be easily obtained; sometimes they sacrificed animals 
which were of great use to them; some tribes reached 
the climax by offering up human beings. 

It was the custom amongst the ancient Jews to sac- 
rifice human bodies before the altar of Jahveh. Noth- fc 
ing was of more value than a child; therefore the first- 
born child or animal or fruit of trees belonged to 
Jahveh and they gave it to him. Before offering these 
sacrifices the priests transferred the sins to the inno- 
cent animals, and when these animals were killed they 
had the belief that the blood of these innocent creatures 
would purify the souls of sinners and wash away the 
sins committed by the members of those communities. 
They used to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed on 
the heads of the sinners, believing that they were 
thus made free from all sins. This custom still pre- 
vails in some parts of the world. There are tribes in 
India who sprinkle blood of sacrificed animals in the 
same way as we read in the Old Testament. This cus- 
tom gradually developed into the idea of vicarious 
atonement; the blood of the innocent is the purifier of 
souls and the redeemer of the wicked. 

In the whole world the Christian nations alone have 
kept up this theory of vicarious atonement. The 
Zoroastrians, Jews and Mahammedans no longer ac- 
cept it. They try to be free from sins by following the 
commands of their God, obeying the Scriptures and 
living a righteous life. 

As long as we believe in the special creation of man 
at some particular time by some extra-cosmic being, 



8 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

in his temptation and fall, in the transmission and in- 
heritance of sin as that of some positive thing like 
wealth or property; so long we are bound to believe 
that the individual soul is born in sin, that it has no 
power to save itself from punishment, that it needs 
help from outside; so long we are forced to accept the 
idea of vicarious atonement. Modern science has 
shown that this world was not created at any special 
time. The doctrine of evolution has thrown that 
theory into the background; so we are not obliged to 
accept the account as given in Genesis. Modern geol- 
ogy has proved that man appeared as early as the 
tertiary period, more than 10,000 years ago; therefore 
we need not concern ourselves about the temptation 
and fall of man, perhaps 4,000 years later. Satan is 
already entombed in the grave of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, so we need not talk about the inheritance of sin. 
First of all, we are not bound to inherit the sins of our 
parents; consequently nothing can force us to accept 
the theory of vicarious atonement. Let us throw aside 
all the dogmas and superstitious beliefs with which we 
have burdened our minds from childhood; let us for- 
get for a moment that we are born in sin and that our 
nature is sinful. All such ideas do not bring any good 
to humanity; they make us more sinful; they keep us 
on the plane of sin and wickedness, because the power 
of thought is tremendous. " What thou thinkest, thou 
shalt become," is the saying of all sages. If we con- 
stantly think of ourselves as sinful, as born in wicked- 
ness, and to be punished eternally, then by the power 
of thought we make ourselves sinful. There is no hope 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS ? - 9 

for us to be better until we forget these things. If I 
constantly think I am wicked, I keep myself on that 
plane. If I constantly think I am weak and diseased 
I bring disease on myself. Fixed thoughts and ideas 
which predominate in our minds, mould our inner na- 
ture and force us to act in accordance with those 
thoughts. The Christian Scientists and mental healers 
have found this to be true. They knew what an enor- 
mous power faith has. If I believe myself to be a sin- 
ner,, " born in sin and shapen in iniquity ", that belief 
intensifies all the evil propensities in my nature and 
makes it almost impossible for me to attempt their con- 
quest. I know many people who have been brought 
up in institutions where it is taught that every indi- 
vidual soul is born in sin. The idea of a born sinner 
has become so strong in their minds that they can 
hardly imagine it possible for a soul to do good 
deeds without being helped by Jesus the Christ. They 
ant frightened when they hear for the first time that 
God dwells within them. They cannot believe it; they 
will say: " How is it possible for God to dwell in the 
body of a sinner like me?" This is the effect of the 
training they get from their childhood ; this degenera- 
tion of the human mind is the result of such training; 
it prevents the realization of truth; it keeps them 
back from the path which leads to perfection. 

The fact is that we have not inherited the sins of our 
parents. Why should we inherit sin of another? Who 
can force us to inherit sins? Who compels us to in- 
herit sin from father or grandfather? Did our par- 
ents create our souls? Have we sprung into existence 



IO YEBANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

out of nothing? Did we come into existence from a 
state in which we did not have our individuality? Is 
this my first and last birth? No, it cannot be. Who 
can answer such questions? That we have inherited 
sins from our fathers may delude the ignorant minds 
of children; but no right-thinking persons can accept 
it as true. The truth is that our present lives are the 
results of our past lives. We are not the victims of the 
sins of our forefathers. We possess individuality quite 
distinct from them. We existed as souls before our 
bodies were born, and shall exist after the death of our 
bodies. Jesus the Christ said : " Before Abraham I 
was;" so it is with each individual soul. Each soul 
existed before Abraham was born, nay, before crea- 
tion itself, and has been manifesting its powers from 
the beginningless past. Our present existence is a 
connecting link in the chain of our various manifesta- 
tions. We are living in delusion, committing mistakes 
and reaping the results of those mistakes, and think- 
ing that we are born sinners and are to be punished 
forever. 

One point we should remember : that as long as we 
think we are born sinners we are not approaching the 
true nature of our souls. If the innate nature of our 
souls be sinful, who can save us? It is impossible for 
anyone to change the innate nature of anything with- 
out destroying the thing itself. The innate nature of 
fire is heat; did you ever see fire exist without heat? 
Can fire exist, being separate from its innate nature? 
It is impossible. If the innate nature of the soul be 
sinful, then it can never exist as sinless. There is no 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS f 11 

power in the universe which can change the innate 
sinful nature of the soul without destroying the soul 
itself. Consequently salvation of a sinful soul will 
be identical with the destruction or annihilation of 
it. Therefore such statements as that we are born 
in sin, that the innate nature of our souls is sin- 
ful, are absurd, illogical and misleading. On the 
contrary, if we accept God as the Infinite Spirit, we 
cannot deny that He dwells everywhere. If that be 
the case, then God dwells within us, in every individ- 
ual soul; who can prevent it? If you do not believe 
that, you do not believe that God is Infinite Spirit. If 
we once admit that Spirit is pure, sinless and divine, 
we are forced to the conclusion that the Spirit which 
dwells in us is sinless and divine. Infinite is always one. 
It cannot be many. How can the true nature or the 
Spirit in man, which is a part of the universal Spirit, 
be sinful, when God, the Infinite Spirit, cannot be cor- 
rupted by sin? How can the Spirit which dwells in the 
soul of each individual be called sinful? What right 
have you to teach your child that it is born a sinner; 
that it has inherited sin as its birthright? You have 
no right whatever. On the other hand, teach your 
children that they are pure souls, that the Divine Spirit 
dwells in each one of them, that God is within them. 
If your children imbibe such ideas from their child- 
hood they will be more spiritual when they grow 
older; they will not have to unlearn anything. We all 
know how difficult it is to unlearn things which we 
have learned in our childhood. How many grown-up 
people ever succeed in unlearning the ideas with 
LifC. 



12 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

which their tender minds were inoculated in child- 
hood? 

Teach your children such ideas as " The kingdom of 
Heaven is within you"; " I and my Father are one." 
That will be of great help to them. Do not accept the 
interpretations which you get from priests or books. 
First of all, learn the true meaning yourself and then 
explain it to them. If you do not understand the true 
spirit of Christ's sayings, wait for the explanation, and 
search within. The true meaning will come to you. 
That explanation will be true which is not bound by 
the limitations of the manners, customs, prejudices or 
particular beliefs of a particular race. The standard 
of truth is always universal. That explanation will be 
the true one which is not limited by books or dogmas, 
but which will harmonize with the truths discovered 
by all religions. 

Jesus the Christ did not teach the idea of vicarious 
atonement; none of the great spiritual teachers of the 
world taught the dogma that we are born in sin and 
are going to eternal perdition. In India we do not find 
such teachings; from ancient times these ideas were 
never accepted by the thinkers, sages and philosophers. 
The most ancient scriptures of the Hindus are the 
Vedas; they do not teach it. On the contrary, the 
Hindu philosophers unanimously declare that each in- 
dividual soul is immortal, pure and cannot be stained 
by sin. Ancient seers of Truth in India realized the 
unity and infinity of the Supreme Spirit, and the di- 
vine and sinless nature of the soul of man. They never 
preached the idea that the soul was created by some 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS ? 13 

being at a certain time; they never taught it to their 
children. If we read the Upanishads, there we find 
Vedic sages, after realizing the divine nature of the 
soul, declaring before the world : " Oh, ye children of 
immortal bliss, listen to me: I have discovered the 
truth; I have found the path. Know ye your true 
Self; that knowledge will light you across the ocean 
of death and sin." " Children of immortal bliss "; how 
full of sweetness, what a life-giving and heart-consol- 
ing expression! 

One of the results of such teaching is that the Hindu 
mind cannot imagine why an individual soul should 
be thought to be born in sin. A Hindu mother never 
teaches her children such ideas. There was a Hindu 
queen who used to teach her children " Tat twam asi" 
That thou art. That is, thou art the Eternal Spirit, the 
Infinite Spirit, the All-knowing Spirit, the Spirit that 
is free from sins and sufferings, which cannot be 
stained by sin. When she put her babe into its cradle 
she used to sing: "That thou art." " Thou art the Di- 
vine Spirit." As the child grew older it asked its 
mother the meaning of what it heard, and the mother 
said: " Go and find out the meaning." That impres- 
sion created in the mind of that child was so strong 
that he afterwards became one of the great sages of 
India. If Christian mothers would teach their chil- 
dren in the same way, instead of telling them that they 
are born sinners and going to be punished, what a 
great blessing would it be to the children and to so- 
ciety. The number of sinners would decrease among 
the Christian nations. 



14 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

There is no such thing as absolute sin ; nor is it pos- 
sible for one to inherit it like a piece of property. Sin 
is nothing but selfishness. Its cause is the ignorance 
of our true nature; as long as we do not know our real 
nature we remain selfish. If all individuals are born 
sinful, then why is it that sinful parents produce virtu- 
ous children? There are to be found many instances 
of this. 

Here a question may arise : " If our true nature is 
divine, why are we not conscious of it? Why do we not 
know that the spirit which is dwelling within us is di- 
vine?" Because of our imperfect understanding, 
which does not allow us at present to see things as 
they are. We mistake the body for the soul and soul 
for body, matter for spirit and spirit for matter; we 
identify the changes of the body with the nature of the 
soul. We give all the attributes of the body to the 
soul; and if the body is diseased we think we are dis- 
eased and suffering. This understanding, being sub- 
ject to evolution, gradually manifests in a better way 
and ceases to make mistakes as we rise higher in the 
scale of evolution. Mind and intellect are the medium 
through which the perfect and Divine Spirit within 
us is expressing its powers. The Atman or the Di- 
vine Spirit may be compared to the self-luminous sun 
and the medium of mind to space. When the mental 
space is covered with the thick and heavy clouds of 
ignorance, the light of the self-luminous Sun of the 
Atman or the Divine Spirit is invisible to the eye of 
the understanding. As the most powerful rays of the 
sun seem to us to be powerless and dull on a rainy 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS? IS 

day, so the most powerful rays of the divine light of 
the self-effulgent Attnan do not shine on the under- 
standing when the heavy clouds of ignorance over- 
hang the intellect. When ignorance covers the light 
of the spirit the understanding makes many mistakes. 
Just as in the partial darkness of twilight our eyesight 
is often deluded and we mistake a rock or a tree-trunk 
for a robber and are frightened, so in the darkness of 
ignorance our understanding mistakes the body for 
the soul, matter for spirit and vice versa. Then we 
suffer and cry for help. Through such mistakes we 
falsely identify ourselves with the limited medium of 
mind, intellect, senses and body, and attribute their 
qualities to our true nature. Then the Self-conscious- 
ness of the Atman or Divine Spirit in us becomes con- 
fused with those limitations. The result of this mix- 
ture is what we call ego and egoism or selfishness, or, 
in other words, the idea of " I and mine," " I am this 
or that/' " I am born," " I am diseased," and so forth. 
The changes of the body, and the senses and modifica- 
tions of mind are identified with our true nature, the 
Atman or Spirit. The appearance of this Atman or 
Divine Spirit as the limited ego is sometimes described 
as the fall of the divine spirit within the limitations of 
phenomenal existence. This appearance of the Abso- 
lute as relative individual ego through the power of 
ignorance is described in the Old Testament, in a crude 
mythological way, as the fall of Adam, the personified 
pure and perfect image of God. Ignorance is Satan. 
Through the influence of the magic power of igno- 
rance or Avidya, or nescience, as it is called in Ve- 



l6 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

danta, the Eve or Buddhi or understanding is over- 
come. Then Adam, or Divine nature, or Atman, 
through the association of Buddhi, or imperfect under- 
standing, falls from Paradise, i. e., appears as individ- 
ual ego, losing for the time being the consciousness of 
the Absolute and becoming selfish and miserable. 
This, according to the teachings of Vedanta, is the 
spiritual meaning of the fall of man. The fallen ego 
will recover its absolute state through the help of the 
Atman which is described as Christ. This is the whole 
secret of true Christianity. The ego is the apparent, 
or selfish man. Buddha called this Atman, Truth, and 
the apparent man, soul. Who can save the apparent 
man except the Real man, or Atman, or Truth? There 
is no other Saviour of the Soul from this attachment to 
body and senses, from the bondages of ignorance and 
their results; and the way of salvation is the knowledge 
of Atman, with the consequent surrender of the limited 
ego. If the Soul, realizing its Divine nature, tells 
any unawakened soul: "Thou art spirit; thy true 
nature is divine " ; then that true soul acts as the 
greatest friend and he is called the saviour of the un- 
awakened soul. As the Incarnations of God, like 
Krishna, Buddha, Christ and others declared this 
truth to the world through their divine personality and 
power, they are called the greatest friends of man- 
kind, the Saviours of the world. Still we must not 
forget through the zeal of our loyalty to and rever- 
ence for those great souls, that they merely point out 
the right paths to God-consciousness and that the true 
Saviour of the apparent ego is the Atman. Even the 



WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS ? 



l 7 



great souls like Jesus the Christ could not bring into 
the right path — to God-consciousness — those who 
were not ready for such teaching. Think of what a 
small number of disciples Jesus left after so much sac- 
rifice! What does it show? It shows that only those 
who feel the need of spiritual help can follow the ex- 
ample and teachings of the great soul, whether it be 
Christ or Buddha or Krishna or any other. They 
alone can attain to salvation or God-consciousness 
who are striving for salvation. No one can save you 
if you are not ready to be saved. When the individual 
soul dwelling in the darkness of ignorance, after com- 
mitting many mistakes and reaping their results, after 
gathering experience in different planes of life, catches 
a glimmer of the light of Truth and struggles towards 
it; then, and then only, the divine light which is shin- 
ing within is discovered; and Satan or Ignorance is 
conquered. Therefore Christ said : " Seek and ye shall 
find " ; " Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall 
make you free." Buddha said: " The truth is noble and 
sweet; the truth can deliver you from evil. There is 
no Saviour in the world except the Truth. Have confi- 
dence in Truth, although you may not be able to com- 
prehend it, although you may suppose its sweetness to 
be bitter, although you may shrink from it at first. 
Trust in the Truth." Where is that Truth to be found? 
Not in temples, not in churches, or mosques, not in 
books or creeds or sayings of this or that prophet, but 
in the depth of your own hearts. Search within. It 
is the Atman, the Self, the Soul of our souls. There- 



l8 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 

fore Vedanta says : " One should save himself by his 
own Self or Atman; never should one let himself sink 
in the ocean of birth and death. For Atman or Divine 
Self is the greatest friend and Saviour of the Soul." 



SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT (3 lectures) 

BY 

SWAMI ABHEDANANDA. 

I. Self-control. 

II. Concentration and Meditation. 
III. God-consciousness. 

Paper, 25 cents ; cloth, 40 cents. 
Postage, 2 and 5 cents each. 



REINCARNATION (3 lectures) 

BY 

SWAMI ABHEDANANDA. 

I. Reincarnation. 
II. Evolution and Reincarnation. 
III. Which is Scientific, Resurrection or Reincarnation? 

Paper, 25 cents; cloth, 40 cents. 

" In these discourses the Swami Abhedananda considers 
the questions of evolution and the resurrection in their bear- 
ing upon the ancient teaching of rebirth, the truth, logic and 
justice of which are rapidly permeating the best thought 
of the Western world. For the preservation of this doctrine 
mankind is indebted to the literary storehouses of India, 
the racial and geographical source of much of the vital 
knowledge of Occidental peoples. Reincarnation is shown 
in the present volume to be a universal solvent of life's 
mysteries. It answers those questions of children that have 
staggered the wisest minds who seek to reconcile the law of 
evolution and the existence of an intelligent and just Creator, 
with the proposition that man has but a single lifetime in 
which to develop spiritual self-consciousness. It is com- 
mended to every thinker."-- Mind, February, 1900. 



THE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD 

LECTURE BY 

swAmi abhedananda 

TUXEDO HALL 

NEW YORK, NOVEMBER J2, J899 

PRICE JO CENTS 

The lecture by the Swami Abhedananda on "The Mother- 
hood of God" is serious, logical, awakening, and one can 
hardly help feeling that only use and wont prevent us from 
recognizing that the phrase, "The Fatherhood of God," is 
really assailable. * * * * * Says Swami Abhedananda, 
"We live and move and have our existence in that Divine 
Mother." At present we are, as a rule, not much beyond 
the old Israelitish notion of Jehovah; and here we find this 
enlightened Indian's teaching specially rational and whole- 
some. The Hebrew religion gave us the picture of a Jeho- 
vah, stern, arbitrary, and exacting as an Eastern autocrat. 
Says the Swami, "The same Jehovah, when considered as the 
Father of the universe by Jesus and His followers, did not 
lose this extra-cosmic nature. Even to-day the majority of 
the Christians cannot go beyond this idea of an extra-cosmic 
God." And that is where we are to-day for the most part. 
What if the profound Eastern idea of the Motherhood of 
God, allied to our already fruitful idea of the immanent (in- 
stead of transcendent) God, should turn out to be the prac- 
tical emancipation of the Western mind, delivering it from 
the anthropomorphic images that cluster about this "extra- 
cosmic" God, and introducing it to a thought of God which 
will bring Him absolutely near? ***** We have 
long needed a little more of this "superstition" and senti- 
ment in "this happy English isle." Let us be hospitable to 
all who bring out from the treasury "things new and old," 
the "pearl of great price." Especially let us be hospitable 
to the interesting thinkers who increasingly remind us of 
the ancient proverb that wisdom comes from the East. — 
Extracts from the leading editorial of "Light/* London, July 
8th, 1899, ... . • 



tiOV 30 i&Ol 



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PUBLICATIONS OF THE VEDANTA SOCIETY 

LECTURES BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA 

THE IDEAL OF A UNIVERSAL RELIGION. 

THE COSMOS. 

THE ATMAN. 

THE REAL AND APPARENT MAN. 

BHAKTI YOGA. 

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MY MASTER. Just out. Bound, 50 cents; postage 2 cents. 

THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.— An Address before the Graduate 
Philosophical Society of Harvard College ; with introduction by Prof. 
C. C. Everett. 15 cents; 2 cents for postage. 

KARMA YOGA (8 lectures), bound. New and revised edition, $1.00. 
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RAJA YOGA. New edition, 376 pages, bound, $1.50; 11 cents postage. 

LECTURES BY SWAMI ABHEDANANDA 

THE WAY TO THE BLESSED LIFE. 

SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF RELIGION. 

COSMIC EVOLUTION AND IIS PURPOSE. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL. 

DOES THE SOUL EXIST AFTER DEATH? 

THE RELATION OF SOUL TO GOD. 

THE WORD AND THE CROSS IN ANCIENT INDIA. 

THE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD. 

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WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 

DIVINE COMMUNION. 

RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 

WHY A HINDU ACCEPTS CHRIST AND REJECTS CHURCHIANITY. 

WHO IS THE SAVIOUR OF SOULS? 

WOMAN'S PLACE IN HINDU RELIGION. 

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REINCARNATION (3 lectures), paper, 25 cents; cloth, 40 cents; postage 
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